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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol. 37, No. 6. April 10, 1974

Zionism forum

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Zionism forum

A very lively debate between Zionists and Socialists marked the second Socialist Forum for 1974. Over 50 people were present to hear John Weiss, a local Zionist, outline the historical and religious roots of Zionism and how, looking at the historical treatment of the Jewish people, he saw the need for a Zionist Israel.

George Fyson of the Socialist Action League, explained the role of Zionism as a watch-dog for imperialism in the Middle-East and how the separate Zionist state had been set up for just this purpose. He explained that the answer to anti-semitism and to the fate of the Jewish people in Palestine was an allegiance between the Jewish and Arab masses against capitalism—in other words against the Zionist state of Israel—and that this is what the Palestinian Liberation Movement put forward.

The next topic to be discussed at a Socialist Forum will be the development and aims of the Pensioners Association with the president of the association, Mr McComish, speaking. This forum will be held on April 19 at 8.15 pm in the tennis pavilion in Salamanca Road.

—Peter Bradley

Nyerere Grabs 3lm On Visit To China DAR ES SALAAM, April 1,—China is to provide Tanzaina with an intrest-free loan of about £31,000,000 over the next five years to develop coal and iron ore mines in the south of the country and link them with a railway, the Foreign Minister (Mr Malecela) announced today. The agreement was signed during the recent visit to China of President Juslius Nyerere, who returned to Tanzaina last night after three weeks abroad on a 20,000-mile tour which also took him to Mauritius. New Zealand and Australia. Mr. Malecela described the agreement as opening a new era in Tanzain's development since the exploitation of coal and iron reserves and the creation of a steel industry would provide the backbone for industrial development. China is currently building a railway which will eventually be 1860 kilometers long linking the port of Day es Salaam with the Zambian copper fields. The construction is being financed by a long-terms interest-tree loan of some £169,000,000 to the two countries, and is being supervised by about 15,000 Chinese technicians.—NZPA-Reuter. Emotive and misleading headlines such as this which appeared in the Evening Post of 2.4.74 are typical of the bias of our daily newspaper. The implications (how subtle!) that Julius Nyerere, President of Tanzania, is as money-grabbing as most of the other political leaders of our day, is, to put it nicely, quite unjustified. In fact, President Nyerere has very definite views about accepting various forms of so-called "aid" from richer countries—military assistance "has little relevance to the poverty gap"; export credits and commercial loans are no more than "the equivalent of a bank overdraft at high rates of interest"; private investment is "undertaken only in the expectation of a high rate of transferrable profit.... it often distorts the economy pushing the emphasis towards the production of goods which cater for only the pleasure of a few". So he told the New Zealand Institute for International Affairs on his recent visit to this country. The People's Republic of China, on the other hand, has offered Nyerere genuine aid in the form of an interest-free loan of £ 31 million. This will be used to develop coal and iron ore mines and link them with a railway as a basis for industrial development. Why then the slanted overtones of the headline? It couldn't be an attempt to bring the man himself into question for accepting genuine aid with no strings attached, and in that way justify New Zealand's own lack of response since Nyerere's visit...... could it? —Pip Desmond

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